LEAGUE NEWS

Melbourne are preparing for Cronulla captain Paul Gallen to recover from a shoulder injury in time for Friday's NRL preliminary final but it's the man in the Sharks' No.1 jersey that most has their attention.

Desperate to do what few others have achieved since State of Origin and silence Valentine Holmes, the Storm are well aware of the threat he'll pose in Friday night's grand-final qualifier.

The Sharks fullback has scored 11 tries in 13 games since moving to fullback in round 14 and has set up another eight, made 21 linebreaks and made more than four tackles busts per game.